Sigh, I had one quote taken out of context and now even Shel Israel is having to clarify what I said.
What I meant was that my friends who blog who are NOT A listers are seeing their traffic go down — even Maryam has noticed this. I theorized that was due to social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce’s rise. Most of the non-A-list bloggers have been showing up on those places in droves. After all, if you are only writing a blog to tell your family what your new kid is doing then something like Facebook is a lot better for that.
But, I didn’t mean this to be a comment on A list bloggers at all. Most of the A listers are seeing their traffic go up. Myself included. Why? Because search engines are getting more traffic and because people are still looking for communities and people who give out interesting information and also because the mainstream press continues writing about the A list. For instance, if I want to know about what’s happening in video, I need to go to Om Malik’s site. I haven’t found anyone who covers the video space as well. I’m sure he’s showing up in tons of searches, too.
Something is happening over on Twitter/Jaiku/Pownce, though. That’s where the action is. Does it take away from blogging? No because IT IS blogging. Albeit 140 characters at a time.
Scobleizer 
I think it’s hard in general to predict where people are going specially with blogging. Nichie blogs like those of the iphone, celb gossip blogs they do very well and there not A-list blogs. I do agree with you to some extent though.
LikeLike
I think it’s hard in general to predict where people are going specially with blogging. Nichie blogs like those of the iphone, celb gossip blogs they do very well and there not A-list blogs. I do agree with you to some extent though.
LikeLike
” IT IS blogging. Albeit 140 characters at a time”
Uuuuhhh…I know you guys/gals keep saying that, and it’s a cute trick to tie it in and call it mini-blogging since blogging has grown so much but I still don’t buy it. Sorry!
LikeLike
” IT IS blogging. Albeit 140 characters at a time”
Uuuuhhh…I know you guys/gals keep saying that, and it’s a cute trick to tie it in and call it mini-blogging since blogging has grown so much but I still don’t buy it. Sorry!
LikeLike
PXLated: My twitter blog at http://twitter.com/scobleizer sure looks like a blog. It’s in reverse-chronilogical order. It has an RSS feed. Don’t see what’s not bloggy about it.
LikeLike
PXLated: My twitter blog at http://twitter.com/scobleizer sure looks like a blog. It’s in reverse-chronilogical order. It has an RSS feed. Don’t see what’s not bloggy about it.
LikeLike
Thanks for the clarification, Robert. I completely agree with your comments here. I am beginning to think that my personal experience would indicate that Technorati’s rankings are not as dynamic as one would hope.
LikeLike
Thanks for the clarification, Robert. I completely agree with your comments here. I am beginning to think that my personal experience would indicate that Technorati’s rankings are not as dynamic as one would hope.
LikeLike
Great post. I am actually seeing an uptick in traffic on my blog, the Buzz Bin (certainly not an A-Lister yet). But I do get a fair amount of that traffic visa vis Twitter, Facebook, MyRagan and Pownce. I think these microblogs and networks are serving as participation pull mechanisms for the Bin.
LikeLike
Great post. I am actually seeing an uptick in traffic on my blog, the Buzz Bin (certainly not an A-Lister yet). But I do get a fair amount of that traffic visa vis Twitter, Facebook, MyRagan and Pownce. I think these microblogs and networks are serving as participation pull mechanisms for the Bin.
LikeLike
Three thoughts, from a bystander:
(1) How does subscribing to an RSS feed influnce reported traffic?
(2) It’s summer in the norhthern hemisphere. Seems to me that even mobile people might have something better to do.
(3) I’m sure there is something of a bubble factor here. Sure, many of us (myself included) have been reading blogs since the very late 20th Century. But the masses? They probably heard their first mention of the term “blog” on something like MSNBC around the 2004 elections or later. It’s just natural for things to taper off some after a couple of years.
LikeLike
Three thoughts, from a bystander:
(1) How does subscribing to an RSS feed influnce reported traffic?
(2) It’s summer in the norhthern hemisphere. Seems to me that even mobile people might have something better to do.
(3) I’m sure there is something of a bubble factor here. Sure, many of us (myself included) have been reading blogs since the very late 20th Century. But the masses? They probably heard their first mention of the term “blog” on something like MSNBC around the 2004 elections or later. It’s just natural for things to taper off some after a couple of years.
LikeLike
I haven’t found anyone who covers the video space as well.
You aren’t much looking then, Om’s a Web 2.0 hack, and a bad one at that. The video space is much more than just Joost copy-cats.
Technorati’s rankings are not as dynamic as one would hope.
You think? Welcome to the Common Sense Club, about time you showed up.
LikeLike
I haven’t found anyone who covers the video space as well.
You aren’t much looking then, Om’s a Web 2.0 hack, and a bad one at that. The video space is much more than just Joost copy-cats.
Technorati’s rankings are not as dynamic as one would hope.
You think? Welcome to the Common Sense Club, about time you showed up.
LikeLike
Rodgers: OK, then, name three sites that are covering what’s going on in the video-on-the-web space better.
LikeLike
Rodgers: OK, then, name three sites that are covering what’s going on in the video-on-the-web space better.
LikeLike
I prefer Dan Rayburns’ The Business of Online Video blog over Malik’s site.
Here’s a link: http://blog.streamingmedia.com/
LikeLike
I prefer Dan Rayburns’ The Business of Online Video blog over Malik’s site.
Here’s a link: http://blog.streamingmedia.com/
LikeLike
So what u r saying Robert is that you’re not going to pay the photographer Podtech ripped off? Unless they’re were A-list then maybe.
LikeLike
So what u r saying Robert is that you’re not going to pay the photographer Podtech ripped off? Unless they’re were A-list then maybe.
LikeLike
Very well said Robert. I think you identified the key ingredient in blogging, value. Readers want value. Here is a post that I just finshed concerning site traffic.
LikeLike
Very well said Robert. I think you identified the key ingredient in blogging, value. Readers want value. Here is a post that I just finshed concerning site traffic.
LikeLike
G-d damn it. I’m going to have to try this “Twitter” you speak of.
LikeLike
G-d damn it. I’m going to have to try this “Twitter” you speak of.
LikeLike
Beats me if blogging is dieing. But, I think the popularity of a thing like Twitter is evidence that a lot of people are more interested in what a few people are doing than in what a few people are writing.
Cutting to the chase, I am interested in what Robert Scoble says. I am not at all interested in what he does. His blog gives me the former, Twitter the latter.
LikeLike
Beats me if blogging is dieing. But, I think the popularity of a thing like Twitter is evidence that a lot of people are more interested in what a few people are doing than in what a few people are writing.
Cutting to the chase, I am interested in what Robert Scoble says. I am not at all interested in what he does. His blog gives me the former, Twitter the latter.
LikeLike
Robert,
I must disagree. Perhaps the reason for the downturn in blogging is that too many people are saying the same thing and not providing enough original insights. Twittering, which I love, can never replace blogging. It could replace the personal blog if the blog is about what you are doing (as billg suggests), but the depth of analysis provided by some of the better blogs out there are not going to be replaced by Twitter, Pownce or Facebook.
Of course, time is limited. Maybe people are spending too much time on Facebook and do not have time to peruse blogs as much as they used to.
LikeLike
Robert,
I must disagree. Perhaps the reason for the downturn in blogging is that too many people are saying the same thing and not providing enough original insights. Twittering, which I love, can never replace blogging. It could replace the personal blog if the blog is about what you are doing (as billg suggests), but the depth of analysis provided by some of the better blogs out there are not going to be replaced by Twitter, Pownce or Facebook.
Of course, time is limited. Maybe people are spending too much time on Facebook and do not have time to peruse blogs as much as they used to.
LikeLike
I think it would be an interesting project to do real blogger metrics to really see who is and isn’t an A-List blogger.
I think those types of stats would rekindle the interest in professional bloggers.
Put some numbers behind the claims.
You would have to
A. Find out what kind of parameters define an A-List blogger
B. Measure them, or collect the data
C. Output the stats on a website using nice graphs and collect money from Adwords.
It would surely be a worth while project
LikeLike
I think it would be an interesting project to do real blogger metrics to really see who is and isn’t an A-List blogger.
I think those types of stats would rekindle the interest in professional bloggers.
Put some numbers behind the claims.
You would have to
A. Find out what kind of parameters define an A-List blogger
B. Measure them, or collect the data
C. Output the stats on a website using nice graphs and collect money from Adwords.
It would surely be a worth while project
LikeLike
The utter lack of statistical data being public on this, means that people like Scoble and Chris Pirillo never have to better themselves or compete.
LikeLike
The utter lack of statistical data being public on this, means that people like Scoble and Chris Pirillo never have to better themselves or compete.
LikeLike
Again, it’s summer. When it gets to September and you’re still having those same bloggers tell you that their traffic is down, then you’ll have something.
LikeLike
Again, it’s summer. When it gets to September and you’re still having those same bloggers tell you that their traffic is down, then you’ll have something.
LikeLike
I’m certainly not A List, but my traffic continues to go up. So not all non-A Listers are seeing their traffic decline….
LikeLike
I’m certainly not A List, but my traffic continues to go up. So not all non-A Listers are seeing their traffic decline….
LikeLike
I’ve noticed that my traffic is slipping.
I peaked around 100,000 uniques a month at this time last year, but have now slipped down to around 75,000.
However, I’m not sure if this is a general trend or if it is because of how badly I neglected my blog over the past year.
LikeLike
I’ve noticed that my traffic is slipping.
I peaked around 100,000 uniques a month at this time last year, but have now slipped down to around 75,000.
However, I’m not sure if this is a general trend or if it is because of how badly I neglected my blog over the past year.
LikeLike
I kind of laugh when I read something like this post where you refer to yourself as an “A Lister”. It sounds so pretentious and self-serving. Is there some club where A-List bloggers hang out? I mean, please…
I guess bloggers who are not A-listers should hang it up and get their Facebook account lke the good little D-listers that they are because they are not saying anything important, like you and Om Malik (Yawn), other than telling their families what their new kid is doing. WOW!
I know you are suppose to be some kind of hotshot within the geekosphere, but I have not found anything that much different from any other site here. I actually came over here because of a crazy photo of you on the fake steve jobs site going crazy over an iphone.
Speaking to your point about why blog traffic is going down (f it is, your evidence sounds anecdotal to me) the reality is most blogs are neither interesting nor relevant and are roughly the equivalent of a dying man screaming in the desert. So, if your analysis is correct, that is probably the reason why. People just get tired of reading the same old rants about the same ole stuff…Maybe that is why the traffic at your non-A-Lister friends’ sites are going down. The quality of the information is going down…
LikeLike
I kind of laugh when I read something like this post where you refer to yourself as an “A Lister”. It sounds so pretentious and self-serving. Is there some club where A-List bloggers hang out? I mean, please…
I guess bloggers who are not A-listers should hang it up and get their Facebook account lke the good little D-listers that they are because they are not saying anything important, like you and Om Malik (Yawn), other than telling their families what their new kid is doing. WOW!
I know you are suppose to be some kind of hotshot within the geekosphere, but I have not found anything that much different from any other site here. I actually came over here because of a crazy photo of you on the fake steve jobs site going crazy over an iphone.
Speaking to your point about why blog traffic is going down (f it is, your evidence sounds anecdotal to me) the reality is most blogs are neither interesting nor relevant and are roughly the equivalent of a dying man screaming in the desert. So, if your analysis is correct, that is probably the reason why. People just get tired of reading the same old rants about the same ole stuff…Maybe that is why the traffic at your non-A-Lister friends’ sites are going down. The quality of the information is going down…
LikeLike